Yeah, I'm using the Drake Sword and I got him down to about half. He spams the shit out of that fire blast which I can't really shield against and it takes away 40% of my health. Even if I'm really close to him, he'll more than likely use the fire blast instead of that butt stomp move.

I can't imagine playing what I've played through WITHOUT the Drake Sword. I realize that your strength/dex ratings will eventually make normalish weapons more powerful than the Drake Sword but it seems like that's going to be a while.